


Coffee, Toast, and You

by kishidanchougoroshi



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Friendship, M/M, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 07:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15769215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kishidanchougoroshi/pseuds/kishidanchougoroshi
Summary: Sho had good reasons to hate coffee, until he met Nino.





	Coffee, Toast, and You

**Author's Note:**

> It's one of my old fics, I made a little correction on the grammar and phrase, but the story line is still the same as it was.

When Aiba dumped him, he found his best branded shirt soaked in a bucket of black coffee, along with custard cream that he couldn’t clean. When Jun dumped him, he poured Sho's head with a big cup of hot coffee, in front of his colleagues and friends.

Those reasons were enough to traumatize Sho of coffee. He swore that he would never drink any kind of coffees for the rest of his life. 

That drink was hell.  
*** 

"Sho kun, are you busy?"

His colleague, Ohno Satoshi approached his cubicle. The clock on the wall pointed to two pm, it was too late for lunch though.

"Sort of," Sho answered briefly. 

"Wanna go for a drink tonight?"

"Yeah," Sho gave a short response.

"Okay," Ohno patted his shoulder. "Enough with your broken heart, let's find some chick out there."

Sho snorted, Ohno was a horrible playboy. He had known the guy since forever and he could fulfill his notebook with all the girls' name that Ohno had slept with. Sho hadn't participated in any kind of drink sessions when he was still together with Jun, because the man simply didn't like it when Sho hanged out with his friends. It had been a very long time since he joined Ohno’s crazy plan.

They walked side by side towards the place Ohno had mentioned; it was located on one of the newly built shop avenues in Shinjuku. The place they were heading was mainly consisted of coffee shops; Ohno led their steps towards the second floor and entered a shop which was also a newly opened one. He thought Ohno would take him to the bar with beer and wine; this guy must have lost his mind.

"Satoshi kun, what's this place?"

"A coffee shop."

"What?!" Sho shivered all of sudden, he didn't like the atmosphere here – it had turned him breathless. "I'm going home," Sho turned around, heading the exit.

"Wait, wait," Ohno grabbed his elbow. "You'll regret it if you go home without drinking the coffee here."

"Satoshi, you know how coffee had ruined my life, it's a nightmare."

Ohno shook his head; he kept on dragging Sho and forced him to sit down on the bar's chair. Sho sighed, grumbling to himself as Ohno pushed the button to call for the barista. The button didn't produce any sound; it blinked a few times and it wasn't very long before a young man appeared.

He wore a white shirt above a black apron around his waist. He smiled at Ohno and then at Sho. The latter found something weird on this man, he didn't speak his greeting.

Sho uncomfortably realized that the barista was deaf and mute. 

"Sho, this is Nino, he's the best barista in town," Ohno introduced him to the young man. Sho wondered how Ohno met this Ninomiya guy, but he would save the question for later. 

Sho formed a smile on his lips. He pitied and admired the man at the same time. He must have led a hard life to get an acceptable job as a barista. As far as Sho knew, a barista needed a good ability in communicating, to make sure that their customers were satisfied with their works. A thousand questions appeared in the back of his head, but none of them justified him to drink coffee tonight. No – even with this young deaf pitiful man before him.   
Ohno wrote his order and handed the paper to Sho. 

"I don't drink coffee anymore, I've told you many times," he said as he pushed back the paper. 

Ohno rolled his eyes but didn't say anything; he took the paper back and handed it to Nino whose lips still formed a sincere smile. It made Sho feel guilty, but he couldn't taste any coffee right now or he would throw up like crazy afterwards. 

"Where did you meet him?" Sho asked Ohno after a few minutes; he couldn't find any connections between Ohno and the boy and what kind of circumstances they had met at. 

"I often volunteered at the school for handicapped," Ohno said briefly. 

"You? Volunteered?" Sho looked at Ohno as if it was the first time for him to see such creature. "You must be kidding me." 

"Whatever," Ohno said calmly, "I met him there and he told me that he wanted to become a barista, so I helped him to find this job. He worked at the laundry before this, ironing a bunch of clothes every day, can you imagine it? He took course for barista in the evening and reached his dream, life is simple, don't you think?" 

Sho gulped, glancing at Nino's short figure. He couldn't give any answers to Ohno's statement right now. He was still trying to picture Ohno in that school; talking to handicapped and comforting them. Was it a joke? Ohno was a playboy after all; where did that 'other side' come from? 

"Where did you learn sign language?" Sho asked as Nino approached them with Ohno's order.

***   
It was almost nine pm when Sho finished his work on that Friday night. He didn't feel like going back home this early; so, he decided to visit the bar nearby his office. He wished Ohno were there with him; but Friday meant his hunting time for pretty young girls. He walked slowly, crossing the crowded street while fixing his scarf around his neck. He almost reached the bar when he noticed a figure in front of him. He was about to call the man's name, but then he remembered that the man was deaf. Sho sped up and patted his shoulder. 

Nino stopped and turned at him; he needed a few seconds before recognizing Sho. He smiled and used his hand to sign something that Sho didn't understand. 

"Are you going home?" Sho asked slowly. He remembered Ohno had mentioned about Nino's ability in reading lips movement. 

Nino nodded. 

"Finished work?" Sho asked again.

Nino gave another nod. 

"Can we go for a drink?" Sho invited the shorter. He had just met this guy for once and he didn't know a thing about him, maybe what he felt was a kind of sympathy towards Nino due to his disability. He regretted what he had just said; he shouldn't have invited the guy for something like having a drink. 

Nino shook his head and gave Sho a sign with his hand, but Sho couldn't catch the meaning. The shorter waved good bye at him and continued his steps forward. Sho felt a weird loneliness slipped to his heart, he cancelled his plan to go for drink and headed home instead. 

***   
"Satoshi, it's seven in the morning and it’s Saturday," Sho grumbled to his phone. 

"You said that you wanted to learn sign language," Ohno’s voice reached his ear; Sho barely opened his eyes, it wasn’t the first time for Ohno to wake him up on his precious off day. 

“Did I? But definitely not on Saturday morning.” 

“I’m downstairs; I’ll get there within two minutes.” 

“You must be kidding me,” Sho yawned, rising off of his bed with much effort. He walked towards his door and opened it; Ohno was approaching his room, his lips formed a smile. 

“Hurry up, we’re almost late.” 

“You should have called me yesterday,” Sho complained. 

“You would have declined my idea if I told you beforehand,” Ohno shrugged. 

Sho washed his face, brushed his teeth and changed his clothes as fast as he could; he was ready in ten minutes. He didn’t know where Ohno would take him, as long as it wasn’t a boring fishing trip – he wouldn’t complain. 

“Where are we going?”

“Nino’s place.” 

“Ni-Nino?” 

Ohno nodded. 

“If you want to communicate with him, you have to learn sign language. Besides, you need a real partner to practice and Nino is a perfect candidate,” Ohno explained. 

“You’re right,” Sho agreed. He had only met Nino twice and he didn’t know a thing about that barista; his guilty feeling still remained inside his chest when he denied Nino’s coffee. Maybe that guy would have been happier if he ordered something that night; but the uninvited memories rushed into his head – Jun’s face when he poured him with a big cup of coffee floated like a big balloon above him. 

“You should try Nino’s creation; he’s really a great barista, you can ask him to make a cute puppy or bear inside your cup,” Ohno said as they waited for the train. 

“I met him yesterday, I invited him for drink, but he denied,” Sho said, leaning his head onto a pillar beside him. 

“He didn’t drink and he has to come back to his dormitory by ten every night.” 

“Oh…” Sho felt another wave of guilty hit him. 

“Do you like him?” Ohno asked, leading the way when their train had already come. 

“What kind of like do you mean?” 

“It depends on you.” 

“I don’t know him that much, but I think I’m gonna like him. Even though half of it is sympathy,” Sho said. They sat side by side on the almost empty train. 

“It’s okay,” Ohno smiled. They talked about works for the rest of the trip but it didn’t last for very long, since their stop was approaching. Sho followed Ohno’s steps out from the station – they kept on walking until they found a particular building. 

“Nino’s dormitory,” Ohno said, pointing randomly. Sho wondered why they needed to come this early to somebody’s dormitory but his unspoken question had been answered as Nino came out with a heavy rucksack on his back. 

“Sho kun will accompany you today,” Ohno said to Nino along with hand sign. 

“What? Wait! You said that we will…” 

“Sho kun, please take care of him,” Ohno said as he patted Sho’s shoulder lightly. 

“Where should I accompany him?” 

“Coffee hunting,” Ohno winked, “I have some business to do, have fun,” he gave Nino a light pat as well as he walked away. Sho shook his head, he couldn’t believe that Ohno would do something like this to him – it didn’t mean it was horrible – it was just awkward. 

Nino touched his elbow lightly and nodded as if telling him that everything would be okay. Sho slid out his iPad from his bag and typed something. He showed it to Nino who nodded understandingly. 

‘I’m sorry I can’t talk with sign language yet, is this iPad okay?’

 

***   
If it wasn’t for Nino, Sho would have never stepped his feet to those coffee shops which provided the imported coffee from various countries. Nino visited three shops; Sho guessed that he had already known the people, since they welcomed Nino warmly and communicated with him without problem. Sho didn't think his presence was needed, but Nino's sincere smile had melted him and he was glad to be here, even though he had to smell coffee for all day.

Nino took a small amount of coffee from a plastic bag and extended his hand to Sho, requesting him to smell it. Sho looked at the shorter with eyes wide opened, he shook his head slowly. The kid gave him a curious gaze and bent his head as a sign that he didn't understand why Sho declined his doing.  
"I don't drink coffee," Sho said.

Nino raised his eyebrows and smiled at Sho, clearly didn’t mind his denial. Nino packed the coffee and ended his purchasing; he set those plastic bags on his knapsack and swung it around his shoulder.

"Let me carry it," Sho offered help. Nino hesitated, but Sho moved faster, he grabbed the heavy knapsack from Nino and shouldered it. The guy signed 'thank you' and led the way back. They went to the coffee shop near his office instead of the dormitory. Sho was about to ask why they needed to go there on the off day, but his question was answered when Nino took his tools; he was here to practice.

He created a cute cat on top of the cofee and showed it to Sho. The latter grinned, not knowing what to do. Nino took the iPad from Sho’s hand and typed something. 

‘Why you hate coffee?’ 

Nino sat down beside him, handing him the iPad. Sho typed his reply quickly,  
‘something happened, coffee had given me bad memories.’ 

‘??’ 

‘I got dumped’ 

Nino covered his mouth; he laughed. Sho didn’t expect that kind of reaction; he accidentally laughed with the boy. 

‘I’ll make a cup of delicious coffee for you; would you like to try?’ 

Sho read what Nino had written and he needed a few more minutes to reply. 

‘Thanks, Nino. But I can’t drink coffee, not for now.’   
***   
It had been three weeks since he accompanied Nino to those coffee shops and Sho hadn’t visited Nino since then. Ohno didn’t say anything about Nino or his girls hunting; oppositely – he was quite – more than usual. 

“Satoshi, have you visited Nino recently?” he asked. 

Ohno lifted his head and met Sho’s eyes, he nodded weakly. 

“How is he?” 

“He’s doing good,” Ohno replied. “How about you?” 

“Me?” 

“Your coffee things, have you overcome it?” Ohno glanced at his phone as he spoke. 

“Not really, I don’t think I’ll drink coffee again,” Sho shrugged. 

“At least, you should pay Nino a visit. I think he missed you.” 

Sho held his breath as he heard Ohno’s last sentence. He didn’t feel like starting a special bond with anyone – especially with Nino – because he thought that his feeling was nothing more than sympathy. He couldn’t fall for Nino, even though that guy’s innocent smile had created a prickle in his stomach. With all the hesitations and reluctant; he had finally come to the coffee shop. 

Nino had changed his apron color; he wore a bright red apron this time. His smile grew wider as he saw Sho entered the shop. He was still serving a customer when Sho arrived. Sho took a seat and waited for Nino, he slid out hid iPad; in case he needed it to communicate with the man. 

“I thought that you hated coffee.” 

A familiar voice was heard; Sho craned his neck to the owner of that voice – Jun was sitting two chairs away from him and he was drinking half of his coffee. 

“Jun, since when you came back to this town.” 

“I’m not coming back, I’m just visiting someone,” Jun answered. He had gained some weight compared to the last time Sho saw him and he had changed his hairstyle. He looked somewhat refreshed. Sho was about to ask something else when Nino touched his elbow; the kid smiled happily as he handed him a cup of coffee with rabbit-shaped cream. 

Sho looked down at the cup and moved his gaze to Jun who saluted him ironically. He took the cup holder and brought it closer to his lips, Sho closed his eyes to welcome the drink he hated the most, but it didn’t reach his tongue as Nino held his hand and shook his head. That kid carried the cup away from him and gave him another cup with the other shape – this time with little stars pattern. Sho finally understood what Nino’s intention; he just wanted to entertain Sho with his coffee cups. Maybe this cute barista had been thinking about it for these past three weeks. 

Nino kept on doing that, until all of the customers – including Jun – left the coffee shop. Both of them looked at their surroundings, Nino covered his mouth as he realized that it was already passed closing time; he released a soft chuckle and glanced at Sho. The latter replied with a weak grin; he helped Nino stuffing his equipment and closing the shop afterwards. 

They walked side by side; it was close to ten pm. Sho had offered to take Nino home, but the kid resisted. He wrote on Sho’s iPad, explaining that he had already gotten used to go home at this hour. However, when they separated around ten meters; Sho chased the shorter. Nino had been so kind to entertain him with those funny shapes on the coffee cups, even though he had already known that Sho didn’t drink it and it would be so rude if Sho didn’t show his gratitude. 

“I’ll walk you home,” he said. 

Nino’s face turned brighter as he gripped Sho’s elbow, guiding his steps towards the station. The train was almost empty of people; it didn’t need a long time for Nino to fall asleep on Sho’s shoulder; his short hair tickled his neck. Sho smiled to himself as he stroked Nino’s head and kept him steady on his shoulder. Luckily, he still remembered where Nino’s dormitory was; he carried the man on his back as the younger didn’t show any sign of waking up. 

Nino was surprisingly lighter than what he thought. He carried the sleeping barista to the dormitory; searching for his key and trying hard not to wake him up. Sho lay him down on his bed and covered him with the blanket. It was almost midnight; the last train had departed at 11 – he had no choice other than taking a cab. 

“Good night, Nino,” Sho fixed the blanket and tiptoed towards the door. He closed it as carefully as he could and left the dormitory. Somehow, he felt lighter – as if Nino had withdrawn something that embedded into his head. 

***   
“Sho kun,” Ohno approached his desk and grinned. “Do you have a minute?” 

“Yeah, what is it now?” 

“I want to purchase a bracelet from this catalogue, but I’m hopeless in choosing, I need your help,” Ohno said as he handed him a catalogue with so many accessories pictures. 

“Do you want to go to Nino’s coffee shop tonight?” 

“I guess so,” Sho answered without any concentrations as he paid attention on the pictures before him. 

“Can I say that your coffee drama has ended?” Ohno pulled a chair and sat down beside him. 

“Not yet,” Sho replied firmly. It had been three months and nothing had changed; except that he and Nino grew closer since that night – the night when Sho walked him home or carried him home would be a better phrase. He went to Nino’s coffee shop twice in a week and to his dormitory every Sunday morning, just to accompany him choosing coffee powder. Sho couldn’t name what kind of relationship they had, all he knew was he liked seeing Nino’s sincere smile every time the guy asked him to smell the coffee. Maybe it was time to end his trauma; there was no meaning to stay away from it. 

“I think this one will do,” Sho pointed at the silver bracelet with stylish pattern on Ohno’s catalogue and handed it back to the man’s hand. He glanced at his watch and rose off of his seat; he mumbled to Ohno that he needed to go home earlier.   
He walked quickly to the coffee shop; it was nearly six pm – he hoped that there would fewer people at the shop. 

Nino was busily serving his customer when he got there, but he caught Sho’s figure quickly and waved at him. Sho felt the butterflies in his stomach had flown everywhere; it had been so long since he experienced this sensation. He stayed at the bar like what he had always done, waiting for Nino to finish his work. 

He slid out his iPad and wrote something with trembling hands; he planned to show it to Nino right when the kid finished. 

When the clock’s hand pointed to ten; Nino approached him. He looked particularly tired tonight, but his smile didn’t change a bit. 

‘Can I order a cup of coffee?’ 

Sho handed the iPad to Nino whose eyes grew wider as he read the sentence; he looked at Sho, confirming. The latter gave him a little nod. Nino was more than happy as he walked to the machine and created a cup of coffee for Sho – he came back five minutes later with a big cup. 

‘Welcome back, Sho chan’ was written there. 

Sho looked at the barista and at the cup; he took it and smelled it. The memories of his broken heart with Aiba and Jun had disappeared, it was replaced by Nino’s smile and it overwhelmed him the way it was. He took Nino’s hand and placed it on the other side of the cup. 

“You drink first,” Sho said. 

Nino gave him a questioning gaze, but he brought the cup closer to his lips; he sipped the coffee slowly. Sho watched him and when Nino finished; he leaned closer and kissed the barista’s lips. It tasted coffee, and it blew happiness to Sho’s heart. He felt warm and content as his lips touched Nino’s. The guy was taken aback, but he didn’t pull back, letting Sho kiss him deeper. 

Sho pulled further and smiled at Nino whose face had turned red. 

 

“Would you like to make me a cup of coffee every day, from now on?” Sho asked. 

Nino read his lips movement and he nodded shyly, letting Sho pull him into a hug.

Coffee had given him bad memories and trauma, but it led him to someone special as well. He had found the answer of his hesitation that what he felt for Nino wasn’t sympathy, but it was more than that. Sho tightened his embrace; feeling warmth rushed into him. 

“Thank you, Nino,” he whispered. He didn’t care of the fact that Nino couldn’t hear him. 

END


End file.
